Tuesday, November 10, 2009

So we've begun work on our next project! A new 3-story single-family residence that will be seeking a LEED-H Gold certification. The house is for a landscape architect and is located only a few blocks away from Montrose Green. Below are some renderings that show some of the design concepts.

South (or front) elevation.

We are exploring the idea of using a true 'rainscreen system' for the main facade. The 2-story bay, or bump-out, at the second and third floor bedrooms will be clad with flat-seam metal panels and the inset portion will have tongue and groove wood siding. Operable wood louvers in front of the third floor windows protect the glazing from the harsh summer sun.

North (or rear) elevation.

We located the kitchen in center of the house on the first floor and placed the living room at the rear. This allowed a strong connection between the living room and the rear yard. The back wall of the house is essentially all glass with large sliding panels that open up and join the indoor and outdoor spaces in the temperate months. There is a wood-sided bay, or bump-out, at the rear of the second floor (in what will be the client's office) that overlooks the yard. And off the master suite at the third floor there is a private deck. We are installing a white roof on top but designing the structure and waterproofing to be able to receive a green roof sometime in the future, which will be accessed by a spiral stair off the private deck.

Building section.

One great aspect about this house is that it sits on a lot that is fairly deep (roughly 70 feet) and thus the house is able to be almost 50 feet deep while still maintaining a large rear yard. What this allowed us to do is essentially pull the floor plan apart and incorporate a true 'solar chimney' (often referred to as a 'thermal chimney') in the middle of the house. The front and back portions of the house are effectively joined together by a bridge. At Montrose Green we used the stairwell in conjunction with the whole house fan to achieve a similar effect. In this house, we will have a motorized operable skylight at the top of the open shaft (opposed to a fan) that will open and close when needed. In addition to passive ventilation, the 'chimney' will bring natural light down into the kitchen as well as into other centrally located rooms at the second and third floors of the house.

This blog documents the renovation of our personal residence, a 100-yr. old rowhouse in Philadelphia. We learned so much along the way that we wanted to share our experience and research with others.

We'd love to hear from you. Contact us at info[at]solibs.com or visit our company website: solibs.com.

Photos of the house

Project Specs

The original two-story house was 900 SF without a functional kitchen, plumbing that barely worked, and significant roof damage. It was essentially a liveable shell, but it had solid bones and plenty of potential.

We gutted the entire house while salvaging & recycling as much as possible along the way. By adding a third floor and extending the house at the rear, we'll ultimately have 1,850 SF with 3 BR/2.5 BA/Study, as well as a full unfinished basement for storage.

The project is currently registered with the USGBC and is pursuing LEED for Homes Platinum certification.To see Floor Plansand Elevations of the project, see the Wednesday, May 7th blog post.

So after many futile efforts of trying to find a non-PVC pipe that can be used for the drain lines in the house, I think I might have found ...

Bench Dog Design

Bench Dog Design is the creative team behind the design & fabrication of several key features of Montrose Green including the stair treads, bartop, vanity cabinet, wall surfacing, outdoor bench, and roof access ladder. All of these elements were made from locally salvaged wood and fabricated in Bench Dog's own Philadelphia workshop.

Open House Party - 7/11

A big thank you to the nearly 300 people who joined us on 7/11 to tour the house! For those who missed the big event, check out the upcoming Open House schedule above. Click the image above to see a slideshow of photos from the party!